Children's home run by Horizon Care Limited in Cannock Chase

Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 1 SC009648 Registered provider: Horizon Care Limited

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

The home is privately owned and is registered to provide care and accommodation for up to three young people who may have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: Sustained effectiveness

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: Not applicable

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Key findings from this inspection

This children’s home requires improvement to be good because:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people’s needs and risks are not always known and understood.  Young people are not consistently supported to understand their risk-taking behaviour and how they can make safer decisions. Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 2  Staff do not routinely access specialist support for young people. When they do access this, actions are not always followed up.  Young people do not consistently have good structure and routines. Furthermore, the expectations of what is acceptable behaviour are unclear.  Young people are not consistently motivated and supported to access their education.  The training available to staff does not always meet young people’s needs. There are gaps in staff’s knowledge on key safeguarding concerns.  Staff do not always develop good relationships with the young people’s family and carers that support their family. This leaves young people vulnerable, especially when they are on unsupervised contact.

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Key findings from this inspection

 Some young people are going missing from home for long periods. The responses to these episodes are not always in line with procedure.  Ineffective monitoring and auditing by management means that a general deterioration in standards of record-keeping has not been identified or addressed.  Staff do not receive sufficient supervision. The quality of supervision is not good and it has minimal impact on improving practice and dealing with any staffing issues. The children’s home’s strengths:

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Key findings from this inspection

 Young people make some progress from the point that they arrive at the home.  Young people have good relationships with staff. Generally, they also get on with each other.  Staff support young people to establish and maintain meaningful relationships with their families and friends.  Young people receive support to follow their own interests. Staff are proactive in supporting young people to access appropriate activities.  Staff work well with other agencies and communication is good. Other agencies are generally positive about the home.

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Inspection date Inspection type Inspection judgement

09/01/2017 Interim Sustained effectiveness 31/05/2016 Full Good 10/03/2016 Interim Improved effectiveness 12/05/2015 Full Good Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

10: The health and well-being standard The health and well-being standard is that the health and well- being needs of children are met; children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles. (Regulation 10 (1)(b)) In particular, ensure that young people’s physical and emotional health needs are met, and, in relation to substance misuse, that this is responded to in a timely way and that the relevant provision is put in place to address the young people’s needs. 17/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

12: The protection of children standard The protection of children standard is that children are protected from harm and enabled to keep themselves safe. In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure that staff— assess whether each child is at risk of harm, taking into account information in the child’s relevant plans, and, if necessary, make arrangements to reduce the risk of any harm to the child; help each child to understand how to keep safe; have the skills to identify and act on signs that a child is at risk of harm. Also, ensure that the home’s day-to-day care is arranged and delivered so as to keep each child safe and to protect each child effectively from harm. (Regulation 12 (1) and (2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b)) In particular, ensure that all risks are identified and understood, and that this informs effective risk management. 17/08/2017

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Requirement Due date

13: The leadership and management standard The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that helps children aspire to fulfil their potential; and promotes their welfare. 17/08/2017 Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 4 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to— lead and manage the home in a way that is consistent with the approach and ethos, and delivers the outcomes, set out in the home’s statement of purpose; ensure that staff work as a team where appropriate; ensure that staff have the experience, qualifications and skills to meet the needs of each child; ensure that the home’s workforce provides continuity of care to each child; use monitoring and review systems to make continuous improvements in the quality of care provided in the home. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)(b) and (2)(a)(b)(c)(e)(h))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, ensure that staff receive training to meet the needs of individual young people; and that the management and monitoring of case recording is robust so that young people’s assessments are accurate and staff record the progress they are making. In addition, ensure that missing from home return interviews and key-work sessions are recorded.

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Requirement Due date

* These requirements are subject of a compliance notice.

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Recommendations

 The ethos of the home should support each child to learn, emphasising the value of independent study and reading for enjoyment. The home must make available suitable facilities, equipment and resources for learning and ensure that the home’s routines do not form barriers to children wishing to use the home’s resources to study. Staff must support children with home study by encouraging them to learn independent study skills and helping them to practise those skills. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 29, paragraph 5.18). In particular, ensure that each child receives an educational daily routine and has access to educational resources during the school day if they are not accessing full-time education.  Ensure that supervision enables the staff to reflect on how they care for young people. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality

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Recommendations

standards’, page 39, paragraph 8.15)  The registered person should have a system in place so that all serious events are notified, with 24 hours, to the appropriate people. The system should cover the action that should be followed if the event arises at the weekend or on a public holiday. Notification must include details of the action taken by the home’s staff in response to the event. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 63, paragraph 14.13)  Staff should be familiar with the home’s policies on record-keeping and understand the importance of careful, objective, and clear recording. Staff should record information on individual children in a non-stigmatising way that distinguishes between fact, opinion and third party information. Information Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 5 about the child must always be recorded in a way that will be helpful to the child.

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Recommendations

(‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4). In particular, all assessments and plans should have a link with each other and the information in them should be clear. Recording of information should be timely and accurate and show a clear chronology of events.

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improvement to be good

Young people who live at this home make some positive progress and they receive individual care and support. Some of the young people have clear routines and boundaries, which have a positive impact on the young people’s development and progress. However, this is not consistent with all the young people. Consequently, some young people do not have good routines and this has a negative impact on their day-to- day care. Furthermore, young people are not routinely motivated to engage with their education and activities. When staff do motivate young people, they respond well and engage positively. Young people and staff have good relationships. Staff speak positively of the young people and there is a commitment to support young people to progress. Staff do not, however, have a full understanding of all the young people’s needs and this limits the progress that the young people make. There is an inconsistent approach to ensuring that

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improvement to be good

young people receive support to access the services that will help them. Staff miss key opportunities to access specialist support to meet young people’s needs, for example substance misuse services. Consequently, some areas of need and risk drift, with limited and, in some instances, no intervention. Young people have some input in the running of the home. Young people are involved in developing the weekly menus. However, these do not always meet the cultural needs of the young people. Young people are encouraged to eat healthily, but healthy and fresh food is not always available for them. There is a children’s guide that young people can access. However, this does not include key information that will enable the young people to have a full understanding of the expectations for them, both individually and collectively. Young people are aware of how to share their wishes and feelings and they have an understanding of the complaints procedure.

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improvement to be good

The home, overall, is inviting. It was having some renovation work completed during the inspection. However, there were areas of the home that were in need of some attention. For example, the maintenance of the gardens was not good, which restricted young people’s use of the garden as a space to play and relax. One of the young people’s bedrooms was very reflective of the young person. It was very child centred and age appropriate. However, other young people’s bedrooms were less warm and inviting and there was no sense of individuality or ownership by the young people. Young people have regular contact with their family and they benefit from this. However, arrangements for contact are not always robust enough. The risks associated Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 6 with some of the contact arrangements are not adequately assessed and, therefore, young people’s vulnerabilities are unknown. One young person has very good

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improvement to be good

relationships with peers in the neighbourhood and they clearly benefit from this. Staff actively promote these relationships, and support the young person to develop good friendships that are safe and to understand the importance of having these. Young people have the opportunity to access activities and are encouraged to do so. Staff will explore interests with young people and organise activities and experiences accordingly. For example, one young person had recently been taken to watch the football team that he supported.

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improvement to be good

Young people who live in this home are, in the main, safe. However, staff do not consistently adhere to safeguarding practices and procedures. In some instances, safeguarding policies are not in place. For example, there is no policy to ensure that young people have safe access to the internet and social media. There is a parental block on the internal internet connection. However, this does not monitor access via other internet routes. Young people, therefore, have full exposure to the internet and no monitoring of this is in place. Staff do not have a full understanding of the behaviours that all the young people display. Key risk indictors are not understood. One example of this is where a young person has strong discriminatory views, yet staff have not assessed if there is a need to be concerned about the behaviour. Subsequently, risk assessments are not robust enough. They are often ambiguous and do not address current risk factors. Furthermore,

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improvement to be good

strategies to manage presenting risk and safeguarding concerns are not always clear. Therefore, not all young people receive consistent support to understand the risks that they are taking. Consequently, they are not empowered to make safer decisions. When staff do have an understanding of young people’s needs and associated risks, young people do receive good, consistent care. They receive the support that they need to understand why they have these needs, and how things can improve for them. This is particularly evident in the care and support of a young person who has specific health needs. Furthermore, the relevant services are accessed to help the young person manage their needs better. This is particularly evident in the care of support of some health issues for a younger young person. Procedures to manage young people who go missing from home are not effective. While there are multi-agency plans in place, young people persistently go missing from the

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improvement to be good

home for long periods. Improvement work has started in this area of practice and this is having some effect. However, not all procedures are followed and young people do not routinely receive a return home interview. In addition to this, key safety measures are not explored and key people are not involved in the safeguarding plans. For example, one young person often stays with a family member when he goes missing, yet communication with this family member is very poor and limited efforts have been made to engage them in the management of this risk-taking behaviour. Furthermore, when notifications to the relevant authorities are required, these are not always done well. The process is not followed correctly and in a timely way. Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 7 When young people have regular contact with their family, it is clear that they benefit from this. However, the needs and risks associated regarding unsupervised contact are

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improvement to be good

not always fully considered. Subsequently, assessments do not identify all of the potential safeguarding concerns, such as peer influences and substance misuse. Also, the level of risk associated with contact is often unknown, which leaves young people vulnerable. Staff do not have the required training needed to understand and manage presenting behaviours. Furthermore, they have not had training in key aspects of practice, for example radicalisation, which will enable them to understand the needs of young people better and how to respond effectively to these. Young people are not consistently clear about the standards of behaviour that are acceptable. For the younger young people, this is clearer and the strategies in place are effective. These young people respond very well to targets and rewards and, subsequently, behaviour improves. They are able to work towards achievable and age-related targets, which makes them happy. However,

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improvement to be good

for older young people, no clear strategies are in place and, thus, young people are not encouraged improve their behaviour. The recruitment and selection process of permanent staff is good. However, the management of agency workers that are used is not as robust. There is not a clear system in place to manage and monitor the use of agency staff. Staff are vigilant and take appropriate steps to verify visitors’ identity to protect young people. The location risk assessment identifies the risks and the safety measures in place to keep young people safe in their local community. The fire risk assessment is less specific and the management of key fire safety issues, associated with the home, is not clear.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager and the staff team have been working at the home for a considerable amount of time. They are suitably qualified and experienced. The manager is looking to enhance the team by having regular casual members of staff. This is in order to reduce the number of agency staff used so that there is an improved continuity of care. The home operates in line with the aims and ethos of the statement of purpose. However, the gender balance ratio that is stipulated in the statement of purpose is not routinely in place. Some staff members report that they enjoy working at the home. However, these views are not shared throughout the team. There is a level of unrest in the team and this is having an impact on the dynamics of how staff work together. The manager and the wider organisation are aware of this. While there have been some efforts to improve the situation, it is evident that the team is not working effectively together and, as a result,

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

the care of the young people is not consistent. Relationships with other agencies are generally positive. Other agencies, such as the youth offending team and independent reviewing officer, speak well about the care that young people receive. It is clear that communication between agencies takes place and that the manager and staff advocate on behalf of the young people. What is less positive is the quality of the relationships the manager and staff have with other key people in young people’s lives, such as family members and those that provide care for family members. In these instances, the relationships are not as strong. Consequently, young Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 8 people do not benefit from an inclusive approach in the support that they receive. The registered manager has some understanding of the young people’s needs and the progress that they have made thus far. However, he does not have a full understanding

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

of some of the behaviours that young people are currently displaying, such as behaviour that could be linked to young people’s increasing anxiety. This has an impact on the level of awareness that the staff team has of these behaviours and, consequently, young people do not receive all the support, help and guidance that they need. Inconsistent management oversight results in limited evaluation of the quality of practice. This has an impact on the management of young people’s needs, risks and their behaviours. Recording standards vary and, in some instances, important recording requirements are missing; for example, return home interviews are not always completed. Thus, young people do not have the opportunity to share any concerns that they may have and to explain why they are going missing. Communication and information-sharing between staff is not consistent. Consequently, an opportunity to reduce further missing from home incidents is missed. This leads to staff not fully

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

understanding young people’s needs and the care that they need. Staff receive individual supervision, but this is not as regular as it should be. Furthermore, the supervision that they receive does not support staff to reflect and develop their practice. Staff have access to additional clinical support that is offered through regular team meetings. This supports staff in their delivery of the care for young people. The support available is to a good standard. However, the strategies agreed in these meetings are not routinely implemented into practice. Consequently, young people are not consistently benefiting from this level of specialised intervention. Staff training is available, but the training provided is not fully reflective of the young people’s needs. As a result, staff do not have all the required knowledge they need to understand young people’s needs and presenting risks. This is particularly in relation to

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

radicalisation, mental health and substance misuse. The development plan is not fully reflective of the current situation of the home. The manager has some understanding of the strengths and the areas that require improvement. However, not all areas of improvement are actively being explored and addressed, such as the difficulties in the staff team and the training needs of staff

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the difference made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people who it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 9 under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 10

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Children’s home details

Registered provider: Horizon Care Limited

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: Venture House, 12 Prospect Business Park, Longford Road, Cannock, Staffordshire WS11 0LG

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Inspector

Lisa Gregoire-Parker, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: SC009648 11 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for children looked after, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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